How To: Return Trashed Files to Their Original Location on Your Mac

OK, I don’t need this file any longer, so I’ll just drag it down to the Trash in my Dock. Keeps my Mac a bit cleaner, don’t ya know! Whoops! I actually need that file! Now what?

Has this happened to you? Well, don’t worry your pretty little head, Bill. As long as you haven’t already emptied the Trash, (or 30 days haven’t passed since you trashed the file), there’s an easy way to restore that file back to its original folder!

How To: Return Trashed Files to Their Original Location on Your Mac

Just click on the Trash icon down in your Mac’s Dock to open a Finder window that will display the trashed files still on your hard drive.

Select the file or folder you wish to bring back to life, then right-click (Control-click) on the item. A drop down menu will appear. Click “Put Back.”

The file will be put back into the folder it was deleted from, and a new Finder window will open, displaying the file in the window’s directory. You can now empty the Trash without worrying about permanently deleting the file.

If you’re into keyboard shortcut combos, you can also restore an item from the Trash by highlighting the trashed file or folder and pressing the keyboard shortcut Command + Delete.

There is one more way you can Put Back an item from the trash, and that is to select the file or folder in the Trash and then go to “File” -> “Put Back” from the Menu Bar as shown below:

Using this helpful hint, you can bring files back from the dead. Use your powers wisely. With a great how-to comes great responsibility.